Tulane Green Wave Football Players to Get NIL Boost from CFP Video Game

Football players for the Tulane Green Wave will be among those that will get a raise from EA Sports if they opt into this year’s video game.

Tulane Green Wave cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant returning a 100-yard interception for a touchdown vs. Southeastern Louisiana. | Mandatory Credit - Parker Waters

For the Tulane Green Wave, their inclusion in the return of EA Sports’ legendary college football video game was incredible.

The game, which was long absent due to lawsuits involving issues like name, image and likeness, returned with such an attention to detail it awed football players and gamers alike.

From the inclusion of Yulman Stadium, the Green Wave band, the fight song, the in-stadium music Tulane uses during actual games and, of course, the iconic uniforms and angry wave logo on each helmet ensured that non-Tulane fans got a small taste of the gameday environment.

EA Sports also ensured that each player that opted into the game, including the Green Wave, benefited from an NIL deal. Any player that opted in to allowing their likeness in the game was paid $600.

Players weren’t getting rich, but for many of them that wasn’t the point. They just wanted to be in the game.

Well, now, with College Football 26 coming this summer, the players that opt in are going to get a raise, per The Athletic’s Chris Vannini.

On Tuesday, EA Sports sent an e-mail to eligible players in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to let them know that if they opted into this year’s game, they would receive a raise of $900 to $1,500.

Based on the report, EA Sports will pay out more than $16.5 million in compensation this coming season.

Like last year, those players will also get a deluxe edition of the game, as they did a season ago. Select players will receive additional compensation as brand ambassadors.

Jon Sumrall took over the program last offseason after the departure of Willie Fritz to Houston. Sumrall picked up right where Fritz left off, leading the Green Wave to a 9-5 season in his first campaign, finishing second in the league standings and earning the AAC title game berth against the Army West Point Black Knights. Army won the title game.

The Green Wave have gone 32-10 over the last three seasons, including three straight trips to the AAC title game, one AAC title and a victory over the USC Trojans in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2022 season. That win total is the fourth-most nationally.

Tulane is preparing for a 2025 season schedule that starts on Aug. 30 when it hosts Northwestern at Yulman Stadium.